First snow in cascadea washington state5/26/2023 ![]() ![]() Legislature approves $10 million in emergency relief bonds for public roadwork, funded in part from the gas tax, in February 1933. George Washington Memorial Bridge (Aurora Bridge) opens on February 22, 1932. State begins operating the Keller Ferry across the Columbia River in 1930. ![]() Private Longview Bridge (now Lewis and Clark Bridge) opens as the longest cantilever bridge in North America on Ma(the state purchased it 1947). Humes serves as Highway Engineer, 1927-1929, then as Director of Highways until 1933.ĭepartment of Highways becomes a separate code department on March 14, 1929. Hoover serves as Highway Engineer, 1925-1927.įirst Vantage Bridge over the Columbia River opens on Septem(replaced in 1962). Present boundaries for six state highway regional offices, each headed by a District Engineer, are established in 1925 (a temporary seventh district directed interstate construction in the Puget Sound area between 19). State builds its first standard dimension steel-truss bridge over the Dosewallips River in August 1923.įinal 36-mile stretch of Pacific Highway is paved between Kalama and Toledo to complete State Road No. Legislature removes highways from the Department of Public Works and puts them under a State Highway Engineer in 1923. State undertakes first snow removal services on Cascade mountain passes in the winter of 1922-1923. Washington levies its first gasoline tax, one cent per gallon to raise $900,000 annually, in March 1921.ĭivision of Highways establishes first State Highways Testing Laboratory (now Materials Laboratory) in Olympia in July 1921. James Allen serves as Supervisor of Highways until 1923, then as Highway Engineer until 1925. The State Highway Board is replaced by the State Highway Committee (governor, state auditor, and state treasurer) in 1921 and a Division of Highways is created in a new Department of Public Works. Army Corps of Engineers dedicates Government Locks on Lake Washington Ship Canal on July 4, 1917.įirst public airstrips are developed in Spokane (Felt's Field) and Seattle (Sand Point) in 1920. James Allen serves as Highway Commissioner, 1916-1921.Ĭlark and Multnomah counties open Columbia River Interstate Bridge on February 14, 1917. President Woodrow Wilson signs Federal Aid Road Act on July 11, 1916. Governor Ernest Lister dedicates Sunset Highway (now I-90) at Snoqualmie Pass on July 1, 1915. ![]() Roberts serves as Highway Commissioner, 1911-1913 succeeded by William R. State takes over private toll bridge between Clarkston and Lewiston, making it Washington's first public interstate bridge, on December 4, 1913. ![]() State engineers begin experimenting with concrete paving in 1912. Bowlby serves as Highway Commissioner, 1909-1911. Hay signs "Permanent Highway Act," imposing state control over major highways and levying a one-mill road tax, on March 8, 1911. The first airplane in Washington is demonstrated in Georgetown, near Seattle, in March 1910. Snow and Highway Board hold their first meeting on April 17, 1905.įirst automobile crosses Snoqualmie Pass in June 1905. Mead signs law for State Highway Board and Commissioner on March 13, 1905. This chronology marks the major milestones in the evolution of Washington's transportation system over a century of progress, challenge, and innovation. One hundred years later, Washington's population exceeds six million - and nearly three million private vehicles travel more than 55 billion miles on our state's streets, roads, and highways every year. There were fewer than 100 automobiles in the entire state. Railroads and steamships handled most long distance travel and freight, and people got around locally by foot, horse, wagon, streetcar, or bicycle. Washington had been a state for only 16 years, and fewer than 1,000 miles of state roads (mostly unpaved outside of cities) served a population of about 600,000. The Washington State Transportation Commission and Department of Transportation - WSDOT for short - are descendents of the original State Highway Board created on March 13, 1905. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |